There will be 11 Americans among the 118 Roman Catholic cardinals who will convene in the Sistine Chapel in mid-March to elect the next pope. They range from leaders of major archdioceses to retired prelates to top officials in the Vatican bureaucracy.
Here’s a look at the American “princes of the church” who will vote for the next leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics:
Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
- Age: 64
- Born: June 30, 1948 in Richland Center, Wis.
- Education: Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.), Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome)
- Ordained a priest: 1975 in Rome
- Posts held: bishop of La Crosse, Wis. (1994-2003); archbishop of St. Louis, Mo. (2004-2008); prefect of the Apostolic Signatura (2008-present)
- Elevated to cardinal: 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI
Daniel N. DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, Texas
- Age: 63
- Born: May 23, 1949 in Steubenville, Ohio
- Education: Catholic University of America, Duquesne University (Pittsburgh)
- Ordained a priest: 1977 in Pittsburgh
- Posts held: coadjutor bishop of Sioux City, Iowa (1997-1998); bishop of Sioux City, Iowa (1998-2004); coadjutor archbishop of Galveston-Houston (2004-2006); archbishop of Galveston-Houston (2006-present)
- Elevated to cardinal: 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI
Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York
- Age: 63
- Born: Feb. 6, 1950 in St. Louis
- Education: Catholic University of America, Pontifical North American College (Rome), Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Rome), and Kenrick-Glennon Seminary (Shrewsbury, Mo.)
- Ordained a priest: 1976 in St. Louis
- Posts held: rector of Pontifical North American College (1994-2001); auxiliary bishop of St. Louis (2001-2002); archbishop of Milwaukee (2002-2009); archbishop of New York (2009-present)
- Elevated to cardinal: 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
Francis E. George, archbishop of Chicago
- Age: 76
- Born: Jan. 16, 1937
- Education: Catholic University of America, Tulane University (New Orleans) and University of Ottawa
- Ordained a priest: 1963 in Chicago
- Posts held: bishop of Yakima, Wash. (1990-1996); archbishop of Portland, Ore. (1996-1997); archbishop of Chicago (1997-present)
- Elevated to cardinal: 1998 by Pope John Paul II
James M. Harvey, archpriest of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls Basilica in Rome
- Age: 63
- Born: Oct. 20, 1949 in Milwaukee
- Education: St. Francis Seminary (St. Francis, Wis.), Pontifical Gregorian University and Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (Rome)
- Ordained a priest: 1975 in Rome
- Posts held: prefect of Prefecture of the Papal Household (1998-2012); archpriest of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls Basilica (2012-present)
- Elevated to cardinal: 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
William J. Levada, retired
- Age: 76
- Born: June 15, 1936 in Long Beach, Calif.
- Education: St. John’s Seminary (Camarillo, Calif.), Pontifical North American College and Pontifical Gregorian University
- Ordained a priest: 1961 in Rome
- Posts held: auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles (1983-1986); archbishop of Portland, Ore. (1986-1995); archbishop of San Francisco (1995-2005); prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (2005-2012)
- Elevated to cardinal: 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI
Roger M. Mahony, archbishop emeritus of Los Angeles
- Age: 76
- Born: Feb. 27, 1936 in Los Angeles
- Education: Catholic University of America
- Ordained a priest: 1962 in Fresno
- Posts held: auxiliary bishop of Fresno (1975-1980); bishop of Stockton, Calif. (1980-1985); archbishop of Los Angeles (1985-2011); archbishop emeritus of Los Angeles (2011-present)
- Elevated to cardinal: 1991 by Pope John Paul II
Edwin F. O’Brien, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
- Age: 73
- Born: April 8, 1939 in New York
- Education: St. Joseph’s Seminary (Yonkers, N.Y.), Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
- Ordained a priest: 1965 in New York
- Posts held: rector of Pontifical North American College (1990-1994); auxiliary bishop of New York (1996-1997); archbishop of U.S. Military Services (1997-2007); archbishop of Baltimore (2007-2011); grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (2012-present)
- Elevated to cardinal: 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
Sean P. O’Malley, archbishop of Boston
- Age: 68
- Born: June 29, 1944 in Lakewood, Ohio
- Education: St. Fidelis Seminary (Butler, Pa.), Capuchin College (Washington, D.C.), and Catholic University of America
- Ordained a priest: 1970 in Pittsburgh
- Posts held: bishop of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (1985-1992); bishop of Fall River, Mass. (1992-2002); bishop of Palm Beach (2002-2003); archbishop of Boston (2003-present)
- Elevated to cardinal: 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI
Justin F. Rigali, archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia
- Age: 77
- Born: April 19, 1935 in Los Angeles
- Education: Catholic University of America, Pontifical Gregorian University
- Ordained a priest: 1961 in Los Angeles
- Posts held: president of Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy of the Roman Curia (1985-1989); secretary to the Congregation for Bishops (1989-1994); secretary to the College of Cardinals (1990-1994); archbishop of St. Louis (1994-2003); archbishop of Philadelphia (2003-2011)
- Elevated to cardinal: 2003 by Pope John Paul II
Donald W. Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C.
- Age: 72
- Born: Nov. 12, 1940 in Pittsburgh
- Education: St. Gregory Seminary (Cincinnati), Catholic University of America, Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
- Ordained a priest: 1966 in Rome
- Posts held: auxiliary bishop of Seattle (1985-1987); bishop of Pittsburgh (1988-2006); archbishop of Washington, D.C (2006-present)
- Elevated to cardinal: 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI
Retired American cardinals who are too old to vote:
- William Baum, former archbishop of Washington and Major Penitentiary at the Vatican
- Edward Egan, former archbishop of New York
- William Keeler, former archbishop of Baltimore
- Bernard Law, former archbishop of Boston
- Adam Maida, former archbishop of Detroit
- Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington
- James Stafford, Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary
- Edmund Szoka, former governor of Vatican City State